Ronin Spirit
by Dolphi99
Summary: What's this? Ryo's having weird dreams again, and a new girl just arrived at their school? What's going to happen now? Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

I don't own Ronin Warriors, unfortunately, but I do own Avatre. Please review!

Ronin Spirit

Chapter 1

The fighting was intense, Ryo couldn't keep up at this rate forever, and he needed the guy's. Turning, Ryo barely managed to duck under a spear, stabbing his katana into the owner, Ryo crouched, feeling the energy gather in his ankles, before he leapt to the roof of a nearby building. It wasn't much better up here, it was, if possible, worse. Fighting back a new wave of enemies, Ryo managed to look down the street to where he had last seen the guys. He found them, surrounded by a sea of gray armor, there was no way they would hold out much longer. Ryo tried fighting his way to them, but the sheer numbers of the soldiers prevented him from making it to them in time. Time seemed to stop all together as Ryo watched his friends fall, one by one.

The face was covered by black armor and red helmet with the face guard down; the red eyes glowed at him. "Hahaha, you'll never beat me my little ronin, not without Spirit!" he heard an evil voice say, the air before him began to shimmer, and a dark shadow began to form, before becoming an armored face. "Now be a good little ronin and give in o me, become my servant."

"Never!" Ryo yelled. "So be it, I will get your armor one way or another!" With that Ryo was hit by a sudden blast of wind, knocking him off the roof. He jolted awake with a start, landing hard on the floor, sweaty and tangled up in his sheets. 'It was just a dream' he thought relieved. Before he was able to get up his door flew open and he was facing his friends. "Hey guys." He said tiredly.

"You had another nightmare didn't you?" Sage asked, though the tone of his voiced made it more of a statement then a question. "Yes." Ryo replied, now beginning to untangle himself from his sheets, waving away the guys when they tried to help. "I can get it myself." He said quietly, as he finally got free of the sheets, and then climbed into bed. "So what was this nightmare about?" Rowen finally asked, sitting down on Ryo's desk chair. "Yeah what was it about?" Kento asked, the other three warriors sitting on the other bed in the room.

"Well, I think we have a new enemy from the dynasty." Ryo replied, looking down at he hands. "Why's that? What did you dream?" Sai asked. "We were in a fight, against too many soldiers, they were overwhelming us, and I was separated from you guys. When I managed to clear enough room around me, I jumped up to a roof and saw you guys getting overwhelmed by them, until you all fell. Then a face in black and red armor appeared before me, telling me that we couldn't win without spirit, and then demanded I become his servant. When I refused he blasted me with wind, and I fell off the roof, then I woke up." Ryo told them.

After a few minutes without any response from the others, Ryo looked up at them. It was obvious they were all working through what he had told them, Sage seemed to be meditating, while Rowan had his chin in his hand, obviously deep in thought, Sai was staring off into space, while Kento was staring at Ryo looking confused. Kento was the first to break the silence. "What did he mean we couldn't beat him without spirit? We have spirit." Kento replied confused. "I'm not sure what it meant, but the way he said spirit, it was almost like he was referring to someone." Ryo replied.

"You mean like he was referring to a virtue or something?" Sai asked.

"Yeah, something like that."

"But none of the armors has that for a guiding virtue." Rowen said.

"None that we know about." Replied Sage quietly. Everyone focused on the warrior of Halo. "Maybe he meant that there is another armor out there, that none of us know about." He continued. "But wouldn't the Ancient have told us about it?"

"Well he didn't tell us about the warlords armor until after we learned about Anubis, remember Kento?"

"Yeah but then he told us the he made the nine armors-"

"We only knew about nine at that time, I mean we knew about the five of us, and we had just learned about the four warlords, so perhaps he only felt we needed to know about those 9 armors." Sage replied.

"But if there is another armor out there, then where is it? You don't think the Dynasty has it do you?" Kento asked.

"I don't think so, I mean the way this guy talked, it didn't sound like he had it, and you know if Talpa had it, we would have faced it during the war." Ryo replied.

"I'll bet if anything, either the Ancient lost the armor, or the armor hadn't choosen a bearer yet, I mean why mention the armor to us if it can't be used?" Sai replied.

"Well one thing is for sure, we won't learn anything more about this tonight, lets get some sleep, and look into this more in the morning. Mia should be able to help us then." Sage replied, getting up from the bed. The others nodding in agreement as they followed Sage through the door.

Ryo woke early the next morning, giving up on trying to get anymore sleep. He had a hard time falling to sleep after that nightmare last night, and what sleep he did find hadn't been very restful. Walking into the kitchen, he was only mildly surprised to see four sets of eyes looking at him. "Hey guys, not able to sleep either?" he asked them. "Nope." They all said together. "We already talked to Mia, she's looking it up on her computer, but we haven't heard anything from her yet." Rowen spoke up. "Yeah, I wish we had more to go on then a virtue, I mean, knowing the name of this armor would make it a lot easier to find it." Ryo stated. "Well, there's not a lot we can do about it now, is there? We should head out now or we'll be late for school. Mia will let us know if she finds anything." Sage said.

"The walk to school was thankfully uneventful, and Ryo soon found himself relaxing muscles he hadn't even noticed were tensed in anticipation of an attack. Shaking his head at himself, he glanced at the others, and noticed they also seemed more relaxed then this morning. "See ya guys at lunch." Ryo called out, as he headed off for his first class. Running around the corner, with minutes to spare before the bell would ring, Ryo was suddenly knocked off his feet as he ran into someone. "Crap." Ryo mumbled to himself, rolling onto his knees to gather his books. Glancing up he saw a girl with long auburn hair and hazel eyes looking at him in surprise, before she blushed and looked away, also picking up her books. "Sorry." She said shyly. "Don't worry about it, I'm sorry too, didn't mean to run into you." He replied. Finally having all his books together, he got up and glanced down at the girl. "Need any help?" He asked. Ryo reached out a hand to help her stand up, and noticed how small, and soft her hands were as she gently grasped his hand.

With the simple touch of her hand, Ryo found himself feeling as if he was suddenly in a storm. He felt the wind whipping around him, the lightning flashing and thunder rumbling, he also had a strange feeling that he should know this girl. Surprised Ryo dropped her hand, and trembling slightly, turned and took off down the hall. Running into the classroom, Ryo took his desk next to Sage and Rowen, still feeling shaky. "What's wrong Ryo?" Sage asked. "Nothing, I'm fine, I just- we need to talk later." He replied, the conversation ended with the ringing of the bell.

"Class, I would like to introduce Avatre, she is a transfer student from America. Avatre, please go have a seat next to Sage." Their teacher stated. Ryo was stunned to look up and see the same girl from the hallway standing there, looking confused at their teacher. He noticed Sage put up his arm, at hearing his name called, waving the girl over, eventually looking up. He noticed him tense slightly when he looked at the girl, before he shook his head slightly and looked back to the front of the room. Ryo made a mental note to ask Sage about what happened later.


	2. Chapter 2

Avatre was so confused and lost, she found herself wondering around the hallway's trying to interpret the map of the school, and find her classroom. She couldn't believe this was such a big school, and she was having a terrible time trying to understand the Japanese writing, she only knew a few words and none of them were helping her find this classroom. Sighing, she began to walk past another hallway on her left when suddenly she was knocked down. Landing hard on her back, Avatre lost managed to lose her books. Getting up to her knees she began to gather her books, mumbling out a shy apology to whomever she ran into. As she looked up, she found she was looking into a pair of fiery blue eyes. The boy had black hair, and a shy expression as he talked to her apologized to her. She noticed that he was slightly taller then her, he said something else she didn't catch, and seemed to be waiting for her to say something. When she didn't say anything after a bit, he reached out a hand like he was offering her a hand up. Grabbing his hand gently, and standing up Avatre was surprised to feel how hot his hand was, it was almost as if it were on fire. She was suddenly very hot, and was surprised to notice the heat seemed to come from this boy. Stunned Avatre quickly turned to leave, running to the office, hopefully someone there would be able to help her find her class.

A few minutes later Avatre found herself following some girl to her classroom. She hadn't been that far away when she had bumped into that guy, and luckily arrived only slightly after the bell. She waited patiently, while the girl walked into the room, and talked to the teacher, eventually waving her in. Walking up to the teacher, Avatre felt very self-conscious walking in front of the whole class. She glanced up quickly at hearing her teacher introduced her. She was stunned to find herself looking at the same boy from the hallway, and found herself getting lost in those blue eyes. Avatre tore her gaze away as the teacher told her to sit by someone named Sage, and she glanced around the room nervously. Noticing a pale, blond haired boy raise his arm, Avatre glanced to his right. Seeing there was a desk there she walked down the row, and took her seat, thankful that it was in the back.

Pulling out her book she was happy that her first class was Anatomy, at least she knew anatomy well, so the fact that Japanese wasn't her first language shouldn't give her too much trouble. She knew enough Japanese to get along, it just took her awhile to process what was being said to her. She was still surprised that her family had to move out here, she never would have expected her dad to make such a big move for his work, but his promotion meant he had to be in Japan. Avatre had really wanted to come to Japan, so she was happy, but she still wasn't to sure if she was really ready to give up America as her home, not that she had a choice. The teachers voice pulled her attention back to the class, she pulled out her notebook to begin taking notes, but found that it was much harder then she had thought it would be. Sighing in resignation, Avatre settled into her seat a little more, might as well be comfortable, since she wouldn't be able to get all of this. Glancing at her schedule again, she noticed that she had English next, thankfully she had one class she wouldn't have any trouble with. Then she had trig, and gym. 'Wow, this is gonna be a fun filled morning' she thought sarcastically. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, the bell rang, and she bolted for the door, and her next class, she didn't want to be late again, and she was sure she would have just as much trouble finding the next room as she did the last class.

Before long she found herself sitting in trig, much to her dismay. Not only was she having trouble understanding the teacher, who was talking in very rapid Japanese, but now she was confused with all the math. She hated math! She glanced to her right again, unable to get used to seeing someone with blue hair. The blue haired boy glanced at her and smiled before going back to his work. He seemed to understand all of this without any problems. Finally the bell rang, signaling the end of class, and she was off to gym.

It was lunchtime before she knew it, and she was excited that the day was finally half over. She couldn't wait, she was supposed to start at a new dojo today after school, and she was really looking forward to it. She was kind of nervous, seeing as this was Japan, and they were stricter with training here then in America, but she had very good, and strict instructors. Sitting down by a tree, Avatre pulled out her sketchpad, and began working on a drawing she had started this morning before school. It was a drawing of some kind of armor she had dreamt of a lot lately. She just had to put the finishing touches on it, and then she would be done. She had been dreaming of a lot of armors lately, and she had no idea why, she hadn't seen anything like these before, and they were Japanese/samurai style armors, unlike the medieval style ones she was used to seeing at her home in America.

Finishing up her lunch, she gathered her sketchpad in her arms and began heading to her next class, when she was knocked down for the second time that day. Her bag was flung off her shoulder, and her sketchpad went flying out of her hands, scattering around her drawings. Jumping up quickly, she scrambled to grab her drawings before they blew away. Glancing up she noticed that she had run into the blond haired boy from her anatomy class. "Sorry." She mumbled. "It's alright, I'm sorry to, I should have been paying better attention." He replied, "Here, let me help you." He said quietly as he picked up a couple of her drawings from the ground near him. "No thanks, I'll be fine." Avatre started to say, but cut herself off as she turned around, and saw he was looking at the drawings he had picked up. She noticed his face seemed pale, even more then it had been this morning, and one blond eyebrow was raised, as if surprised. This only seemed to last for a second, before he seemed to get control of himself. It was so quick, that Avatre thought she had merely imagined it happening. "Um, sorry about that again, and thanks for the help, I should get going before I'm late for class." Avatre quickly replied as she grabbed her drawings from him, bolting off to class before he had a chance to harass her about them.

It was lunch, and Sage was sitting with the guys at their usual spot outside, thinking about the new girl he had seen in class that morning. He had been shocked to see an aura around her. He only ever saw auras around the guys; he had to focus to see them around anyone else. It made no sense, and hers had been very powerful, it was a deep purple, and it was as large as any of the ronin's auras. Lost in thought, he found himself looking at her as she sat eating her lunch by herself.

"Hey guys, I think we need to talk about something, I've been having a strange feeling all day, and I think it has something to do with that new girl." Ryo said, pulling Sage's attention back to his friends.

"Like what?" Kento mumbled out around his lunch.

"Kento, could you not eat with your mouth full?" Cye asked, annoyance clear in his voice.

"Like this morning when I bumped into her in the hall, I was helping her get up, and when she grabbed my hand, it felt like I was suddenly in a storm, I felt wind whipping around me, and there was lightning and thunder, and when she let go of my hand, and ran off, it was gone." The black haired boy replied.

"Yeah I noticed something about her too." Sage started, "She has an aura around her."

"So hows that different then anyone else?"

"Well Kento, I only usually see auras around people when I'm trying to, the only ones that have auras that I can without trying to are you guys, and the other strange thing is that her aura is just as strong as all of yours are." Sage explained.

"So what do you think it means? Could she be with the Dynasty or something?" Rowen asked the others.

"I don't know, I don't get bad vibes off of her, but she definitely seems like she could be trouble. She could be from the Dynasty, I mean, we don't know who we're up against this time." Sage spoke up.

"Well right now all we can do is keep an eye on her, and watch out for anything funny. Be sure to watch yourselves when your around her too, ok guys." Ryo said. Looking around at everyone, he nodded once and then finished his lunch, the conversation obviously over, and none too soon, as the bell rang shortly after that.

Walking off to class, Sage was surprised when someone bumped into him. Looking down he noticed it was the new girl. Her stuff went flying as she landed hard on the ground. "Sorry" She mumbled. Noticing there were some papers on the ground by him, he picked them up, intending to help her out, and was surprised to see that he was looking at a drawing of Ryo's armor. Still slightly shocked, Sage was surprised to find the drawings grabbed out of his hands, and hear a hasty thanks as the girl ran into the school. Shaking his head slightly, Sage started heading back into the school, deciding that he would have to tell the guys about this after school.

Ryo ran out of his last class of the day, anxious to get the others and head to Sage's family dojo, he had a feeling something was going to be happening really soon, and he wanted them to get all the training they could, but that meant getting to the dojo quickly so that Sage could get his kendo training done.

Arriving at their usual meeting place, Ryo wasn't surprised to see everyone already there. What did surprise him was the serious look on their faces. "Hey what's going on guys?"

"I found out something after lunch today, and I need to talk to everyone about it, I already told them, but since you were running late, I'll tell you on the way to the dojo, I can't be late today, grandpa want's me to teach class today." Sage replied, as he started heading off. Ryo quietly followed, waiting as patiently as he could, which wasn't very long, before he finally voiced the question he was dying to ask. "So what's this big news?"

"Well after lunch that new girl bumped into me, she had a bunch of stuff in her arms and had of course lost it when she fell. Well when I helped her pick up some papers, I noticed that she had a drawing of your armor. I was so shocked I didn't get a chance to find out anything else before she grabbed them from my hands and tore into the school." He answered. "So this girl has an aura, gives off funky vibes, seems to control the weather, and knows about our armor." Ryo summarized, "What's going on here?"

"I dunno, but we really need to keep an eye on her, I think you were right at lunch, something's going to happen, and I think she's somehow involved in all this." Sage replied. "Lets tell Mia about this when we get home, maybe she can help us out, plus hopefully she will have more information about that dream you had." Rowen replied.

"Yeah lets do that." Ryo replied as they walked into the dojo. "Well I'll see you guys after class, grandpa and dad want me to work with a new student today, and assess her level, I guess she has received previous training. Any of you guys want to help out?" Sage asked. "Sure I can." Ryo replied. "Thanks."

"No problem, hey guys, I'm gonna get ready to help Sage, go ahead and get started with training, we'll join you in a bit." Ryo told the others, before heading into the changing room to put on his Gi.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own the Ronin Warriors, or any of the characters from the show. Please review, I would like to know what you think about my story!

The day was finally over, and now it was time to head over to the Date Dojo, where her father had managed to get her enrolled for classes. Grabbing the directions out of her bag, Avatre looked up to see three boys in front of her, two of them, a big blue-black haired boy and a slighter framed, auburn haired boy were wrestling, a skinny blue haired boy had his nose buried in a book, seemingly oblivious to what was happening around him. A fourth boy, a tall, skinny, blonde one walked up to the other three. Once he arrived, he said something to them. Whatever he said must have been important, because the other three were instantly paying attention. The blonde crossed his arms, leaning against a tree behind him, continuing to talk. With a start, Avatre realized the blonde was the same one that she had run into earlier, the one who saw her drawings.

She found herself wondering if anyone around here knew about that myth. Probably not, it wasn't a very well known myth; she was still surprised that she knew about it. Hearing someone yell out behind her, she snapped back to reality as she noticed the blonde boy push himself off the tree. Avatre turned around, suddenly feeling butterflies in her stomach at the sight of a black haired boy, who was currently waving to the other four boys. The very same black haired boy she had run into this morning. Man she was a klutz! Running into two boys in one day, that was a new record for her. She blushed slightly as she remembered the incident, his shy smile, his fiery blue eyes, his strong arms. 'Whoa, stop thinking like that!' she thought to herself, shaking her head as she quickly turned around, taking off for the dojo at a brisk pace. Not glancing behind her, she failed to notice the group of five boys look at her thoughtfully, or the deep conversation that they seemed to fall into.

Lost in thought, Avatre was surprised to find that she had arrived at the dojo. Looking at her watch, she noticed that she was a little early, and decided to head in to talk to Sensei Date, and get ready for class. Unsure of what she should wear to class, Avatre decided to check with Sensei Date. "Excuse me Sensei Date, I'm Avatre, my dad talked to you about me starting lessons with you today." Avatre introduced herself. "I wanted to ask you what I should wear to class since I don't have a Karate gi. I brought my Tae Kwon Do dobak and some plain workout clothes, which would you prefer me to wear?" She asked. "Nice to meet you Avatre, lets have you wear the workout clothes today. I planned on having my grandson work with you to see where you are, we can get you a uniform after that." He said. "Sir." Avatre replied, bowing before she headed off to the locker rooms to change. Quickly changing, Avatre walked out of the locker room, to be waved over by Sensei Date. "Sir?" she asked, running over. "I'm going to have you start with him right away, so don't worry about bowing in with the class. He's over there in the small gym with his friends." He said, indicating a room off to the right of the main room. Nodding and bowing, Avatre turned around and ran to the room. Stopping in the doorway, she was surprised to once again see the same five boys from before, at the school. "Excuse me, I'm a new student here, and I was told to come work with Sensei Dates grandson." She said quietly. The tall blonde boy walked over and held out his hand. "That would be me, I'm Sage, and these are my friends."

Sage said indicating the other four boys in the room. "Ryo here has agreed to help us out, the other three will just be watching if you don't mind." He replied.

"Yes sir!" she replied, taking his hand and bowing in respect. "Very good, I want to get started with watching your technique, and then I'll have you do some sparring with Ryo." He replied. Demonstrating her technique went quickly and she soon found herself preparing to spar with Ryo. "Very good Avatre, go ahead and get some water and get ready to spar." Sage told her. "Sir." She replied, running off to the wall to get some water and grab her sparring gear. She noticed Sage standing next to Ryo, talking to him. 'He's probably telling him to go easy on me' she thought, 'well he better not, I want a good match, and a good chance to show them what I can do.' Noticing the black haired boy walking into the ring, Avatre finished her water, and ran back into the ring. "Now since this is just do we can get and idea of here you are, this won't be run formally. The same sparring rules apply, as usual, understand?" Sage asked. Looking from one to another. Avatre and Ryo both nodded, indicating their understanding. "Good, Fighting stances! Begin!"

The fight began slowly enough, both opponents slowly circling around the ring, trying to find an opening. Ryo was the first to attack, throwing a fast series of kicks and punches all that were easily blocked. It was obvious he was going easy on her. Avatre wasn't surprised, this usually happened to her when fighting men, they always thought she was so fragile, just because she was a girl. Deciding to prove that she wasn't delicate, despite her size, Avatre went on the attack, throwing kicks and punches in rapid succession. Suddenly she threw and fake roundhouse, followed by a turning sidekick that connected solidly with Ryo's chest, Knocking him back and out of the ring. Avatre noticed the shocked look in his eyes and he made his way back into the ring. Focusing on her opponent, she didn't notice the shocked looks on the other four boys, or the looks that passed between them. "I'm not glass, I won't break, so you need to try harder then that!" she told Ryo, encouraging him to raise the level of competition.

The match went quickly after that; everyone watching was absorbed in watching these two athletes going at it. They both attacked with such speed and strength, and they were both able to read the others moves so well, it was almost like they were attuned to each other. After about another 15 minutes of sparring, Sage decided it was time to stop them, seeing as neither one seemed to be tiring yet, or getting the upper hand on the other. At this rate, it would go on forever. "Ok you two, that's enough for tonight." Sage interrupted the match. "Ryo, guys, go ahead and get changed, I'll catch up to you in a bit." He told the others, who nodded at him. The three spectators got up and headed to the locker rooms, Ryo, facing his opponent, held out his hand. "Good match, you're a great fighter." He said, shaking Avatre's hand, before he to went to the locker room.

Avatre watched Ryo walk out of the room, before turning to face Sage, blushing slightly at the complement. She wasn't too worried he would notice though, since he would most likely attribute the flushed look to having just gotten done sparring. "He's right you know, you are a great fighter. You have speed, strength, agility and grace. What level are you in Tae Kwon Do?" he asked. "I'm a black belt sir." She replied. "Please don't call me sir unless we're in class, my dad and grandpa are sir." Sage said, smiling. "Feel free to call me Sage, where did you train?" "Ok Sage, I trained in America with my grandpa, and with a friend who lived next door to us. They were both from Japan, and moved to America when they were younger. They were very strict masters to train under." She replied. "Well it shows, and to tell you the truth, I know what it's like. Well that's all for today, I'll see you around." He replied, shaking her hand before turning around and heading off, presumably to either join his friends or speak to his grandfather. Grabbing her gear, she headed to the locker rooms to change, and then head home.


	4. Chapter 4

Talking with Sage and the others, Ryo suddenly stopped when he felt someone's presence, it was strange, it felt so strong, almost overpowering for the small room, but at the same time there was a calm safe feeling to the presence. Ryo glanced up at the door, and was surprised to see the new girl standing there looking startled. Somehow he knew this presence came from her, but he was surprised and unsure of what to think. The only other people he could sense this strongly were the guys and the warlords. Avatre spoke up then, snapping Ryo from his thoughts, he nodded his head toward her when Sage introduced him, and then grabbed some targets. For the next thirty minutes or so went fast, and before he knew it, it was time to spar. Getting ready, Sage came over, "remember, take it easy on her, we can't-" he started. "Don't worry Sage, I won't be too hard on her, she's not a demon after all." Ryo replied as he walked back into the ring.

The match started slowly, both opponents circling each other, trying to find an opening in the others defense. Suddenly Ryo attacked, 'wow, she's fast' he thought, as she blocked all of his attacks. Continuing to press the attack, Ryo almost didn't manage to block Avatre's kick, as she suddenly went on the attack. Ryo continued blocking her kicks and punches until she got him with a fake roundhouse, turning sidekick. Realizing too late that he had fallen for it, Ryo was unable to block the sidekick. Getting drilled in the chest, he was knocked out of the ring, and barely able to keep his balance. 'She kicks like a mule' he thought. 'I obviously can't take it as easy on her as I thought. Ryo walked back into the ring slowly, taking the time to watch Avatre and get a feel for her movement "I'm not glass, I won't break, so you'll have to try harder then that!" she challenged him. Nodding slightly, Ryo went on the attack, moving too fast for most people to react. Ryo was once again surprised when she was able to keep up with him. The match continued like this, neither getting many hits on the other before Sage called a halt. Only slightly short of breath and tired, Ryo was again surprised to see that Avatre barely showed any signs that they had just fought such an intense match.

Heading into the locker room with the guys, Ryo was lost in though about this girl. "Did you guys notice how fast she moved?" Kento asked the other three. "Yeah, she was able to keep up with Ryo easily, but I've never seen anyone who can keep up with him like that except for one of us." Cye replied. "Yeah, she was fast, and she hit like a mule!" Ryo replied, finally joining the conversation. "I was barely holding back." He finished. "You didn't use any of the 'abilities' we get from you know what did you?" Rowen asked concerned. "Nope, but that's about all that I didn't use." He answered. "Hey did you guys notice that she didn't seem to tired after that fight?" Ryo asked. "Yeah, that was strange, I mean the fight was so intense, you guys hardly broke apart, and it lasted for a long time too. You don't see that kind of endurance in most people." Rowen paused. "Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen that kind of endurance in a normal person." He finished.

"Well let's get changed, and head home. We can discuss this more there when Sage will be able to join in, see what he has to say about this. All I know is that I get a weird feeling about this girl, I mean there's something different about her." Ryo suggested, walking into the locker room. "By different, you're thinking the Dynasty?" Rowen asked. "I dunno, maybe, but lets not talk about it here ok."

A mere thirty minutes later the guys were at home. "Hey Mia, can you come down here?" Cye called out, wanting her input in the conversation. "Sure, I'll be right down!" she replied. Everyone grabbed a seat except Kento, who ran into the kitchen to grab a snack while they were all waiting for Mia to join them. Kento walked back into the room and grabbed a seat, just as Mia walked down the stairs. "Hey guys, what's up?" she asked as she grabbed a seat. "Well we met a new girl at school today, and she came to Sage's families' dojo, but there's something strange about her, and we wanted to get your input." Ryo began. "Ok, so let me know what's so strange about her?" Mia asked.

"I guess I'll start first, since I met her first. This morning I ran into her, and when I grabbed her hand to help her up and made eye contact with her, I had the strangest feeling, like I was in a sudden storm. As soon as I turned away and let do of her hand the feeling went away, but every time she enters a room I notice this feeling, it's like a presence coming from her, but it's strong. Stronger then any normal person's presence, it almost reminds me of the presence that the guys have, or the warlords," Ryo said. "And when we fought at the dojo, she moved fast, almost as fast as I can move and she's strong too." He finished. "Really" Mia said thoughtfully.

"I'll go next." Sage said. "I first say her in first period, which was after Ryo ran into her I believe." He paused here, looking at Ryo for confirmation before continuing. "When she walked into the room, I also felt a presence, like Ryo said, but what really surprised me was two things, one, I had that same feeling of being caught in a storm when I made eye contact with her, and two I saw an aura around her. It was dark purple and strong. I've only seen auras like that around other armor bearers, or those associated with the dynasty and the ancient. Then after lunch she ran into me, and fell down causing her to lose her books and papers. I was helping her pick them up, and I glanced at a couple I had in my hands, she has a drawing of Ryo's armors, I didn't get a chance to look at the other ones before she grabbed them from me, looking surprised or alarmed and blushing. Once she grabbed them she took off as fast as she could. Then at the dojo today it was just like Ryo said. She was definitely a match for him, at least without the 'abilities' the armor gives up. He barely scored any hits on her, and vice versa. Plus when she was done fighting, she barely showed any signs that she had just got done fighting such and intense match for so long." He explained.

"Interesting, what about you guys?" Mia asked the other three. "I don't think any of us have had any run ins with her, but we did sense her presence like Ryo and Sage, and whet they said about her fighting Ryo. I've only ever seen sparring matches like that between up." Rowen said, looking at Cye and Kento who nodded in agreement. "Oh and she seemed a little jumpy around us, especially Ryo and Sage." He stated as an afterthought.

"That is strange, do you think she could be linked to the dynasty somehow?" she asked. "That's all I can think of, but she hasn't done anything either, and the dynasty creeps don't usually wait patiently to let us know about them, and we haven't hear anything from Kyra or the other warlords, and they are keeping a lookout for any trouble from the dynasty." Sage replied. "Let's see what we can find out before we jump to conclusions. We'll watch her for anything suspicious and see what we find, but we have to be sure to not let our guards down around he, at least not until we are sure we can trust her." Ryo said.

"What if we became her friends?" Kento asked. The room went quiet, everyone looking at Kento with varying levels of surprise evident. "What?!" Kento asked sheepishly, smiling nervously at the looks the others gave him. "You actually had a good idea!" Rowen replied, teasing Kento. " HEY!" He yelled out indignantly. "Rowen's right though Kento, that is a good idea, but she's jumpy around us, and we don't want to scare her or anything." Sage replied. "Well I think it should be either Ryo or Sage." Cye said. "But you guys just pointed out how she's jumpier around us, and we don't want to scare her off." Ryo replied. Yes, but she has already met and talked to both of you, and you guys would have something to talk to her about, what with Sage's family owning the dojo, and her fighting and training with you." Cye pointed out. "Good point Cye, but I think it should be Ryo." Sage replied. "Why me?" he asked. "Because, you're more approachable and friendly than Sage is, plus she seemed to be intimidated by Sage. Finally I think you two will hit it off better which we want." Rowen pointed out. All the others nodded in agreement. "Besides, you are our fearless leader." Rowen teased. "Ok, so then I'll approach her tomorrow in school, but what are we supposed to talk about?" Ryo asked. "Maybe mention doing some extra training together or something like that." Sage said.

"Well with that settled, I have more research to do. I haven't found anything yet about a warrior of spirit, but there are a few more places I plan on looking, and I found some more of my grandfather's noted that I hadn't seen before. I just have to decode them. I suggest you all work on your homework, it's getting kinda late." Mia said, heading up to the library.

**(Line Break)**

Avatre walked the short distance home, having turned down the use of the car and driver her dad had offered. She didn't want to draw too much attention to herself. She didn't want people to pretend to be her friends just because of her dad's money, and connections like at her last home. Arriving at home, Avatre headed up the long drive to the large manor, the gate having been left open. Walking through the door, she took of her shoes and coat, only to have a maid come out to quickly grab them and put them away. "Thanks Miniko." She said, as she headed to her fathers office.

"Hi dad." She called out, running up to him and giving him a huge hug. "Hello sweetie, how was your first day of school?" he asked. "It was ok," she said. "Just ok? Well I'm sure it will get better, just give it some more time. How did it go at the dojo?" he asked. "It was fun, I worked with sensei Dates grandson, and some of his friends. They wanted to see how I was with my technique and then we did some sparring. " She replied with a smile. "I hope you weren't to hard on the poor kids." "I wasn't, actually the guy I sparred was pretty good, he was able to keep us with me easily, I think I'll get some good competition again" She said, her smile getting even bigger, and brighter, and her eyes light up with excitement. "Well good, I'm glad to hear that." He dad said with laughter in his voice at her excitement. "Well go and get some dinner, and then do your homework, and don't stay up too late tonight. You need a good nights sleep for tomorrow, remember you have that meeting with my old Sensei to see if he will take over your weapons training, and then dinner with the family tomorrow night."

"Ok dad, I won't, I'll come home in enough time to get ready."

"That's my girl! You know I think this move has been good for you, you seem more relaxed then you have for a long time, even though I know it was tough to leave the states. I love you."

"Thanks dad I love you too." Avatre picked up her bag from where it hah fallen on the floor, and ran upstairs to her room. It was a nice room, very large; the walls were painted a light, golden tan shade, he king sized bed was on the wall opposite her door, it had a burgundy colored comforter with little golden designs all over it. Against the wall to her left was an entertainment center with a nice TV and all her other electronics, and movies. There were a couple of plush chairs, and a futon facing the TV. To her right was her desk with her computer and laptop on it, and just to the right of the desk was a large glass door that opened out to the balcony. Avatre felt her feet sink into he plush burgundy carpet as she walked toward her desk to finish her homework. A couple hours later, Avatre was done with her homework and had grabbed a small dinner. She was up in her room drawing when she found herself thinking about Ryo. His wild black hair, his fiery, tiger blue eyes, his strong arms and hands, the strange feeling she had when she grabbed his hand early that morning. Suddenly the phone rang, snapping her out of her daydream. When she glanced down at her drawing, her pencil dropping from suddenly still fingers. She was looking at a picture of the same boy she had just been thinking about. She didn't even remember drawing it. She hadn't done something like that for a long time, no since drawing those armors. Shrugging to herself, Avatre got up and went to bed, it was getting a little late, and she would have more time to think about this later.

AN: sorry about the long wait, but between work, TKD training and then the subsequent torn ACL and surgery, I've been pretty busy.


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